The Elephant in the Locker Room: The Day the Seahawks Got Really Lucky

After two Super Bowl appearances in a row, everyone’s paying attention… yet even with all the scrutiny, it seems that there’s always some key issue that’s getting glossed over. It’s the elephant in the locker room, if you will, and gosh darn if I’ll let that ride. Join us on Saturday mornings for a little closer look at our NFC West Champions.

By Greg Wright

The Seahawks’ come-from-behind overtime victory over the Green Bay Packers in the 2014-15 NFC Championship game will go down in my mind as the best game in team history.

The way the game ended, I dare say, will certainly stick in the memory of everyone who saw the game.

I also think that the disheartening loss in the closing moments of the Super Bowl two weeks later has led to Seahawks fans forgetting how lucky the Hawks were to even be there in the first place.

Yes, I did say lucky.

I did not say good. I did not say the Seahawks deserved to be in the Super Bowl. Maybe they did; but I did not say that.

No, the Seahawks were lucky to get there after the way they played through 55 out of 60 minutes in the NFC Championship game.

Do you remember the first quarter looking like this?

Do you remember the Seahawks being outgained 176 yards to 49 in the first half?

Do you remember Russell Wilson completing exactly one pass for positive yardage in the first half?

Do you remember the Packers virtually camping out on the Seahawks end of the field, visiting the Hawks’ 30 yard line or better on six straight possessions?

Do you remember the Hawks trailing 16-0 at halftime, lucky to even be as close as that?

Do you remember Jermaine Kearse going 0 for 5 on his first five targets from Wilson, giving up four interceptions to defensive backs in the process?

Do you remember Burnett’s “victory slide” with five minutes to go after Wilson’s and Kearse’s final miscue? Do you remember the sinking feeling you had then?

Do you remember the Seahawks, after coming back for a 22-19 lead, failing to stop a gimpy Aaron Rodgers and giving up this field goal at the close of regulation after yielding 48 yards?

Do you remember how eerily similar that was to the playoff loss in Atlanta two years earlier?

No?

Well, to be honest, I didn’t remember all that either, until I rewatched the game last night. It’s funny how victory can erase the painful details of short-term memory.

It’s also funny how the final stats in a game can erase short-term memory, too, since the Hawks ended up pretty much owning the Packers, statistically, over the final two quarters and overtime. Ultimately, they bested the Packers in just about every meaningful statistic except turnovers.

But let’s just admit, shall we? You don’t turn the ball over five times and win a championship. Aside from the miraculous finish, that was just one ugly game. One we were lucky to win.

Oops! There goes that word luck again.

Luck, nothing. We don’t need luck. We’ve got Russell Wilson.

When Wilson’s at the helm, it’s really not luck at all. It’s miracles by design.